JAKARTA – A number of countries have decided to ban the entry of Indonesians into their respective countries due to the sharp increase of Covid-19 cases in the country recently. But despite the fact, such decision has no impact to Indonesia’s exports of palm oil products.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki) Deputy Chairman III Togar Sitanggang said that Indonesia’s exports of crude palm oil (CPO) and derivatives to a number of countries are still in normal condition, although the country saw a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases recently. He said the foreign countries have only denied access to Indonesians, but not its products.

“What we export is the palm oil products, not the Covid-19 virus. So, our exports are still proceeding normally,” he said on Tuesday, 20 July 2021.

Togar is confident that Indonesia’s palm oil exports will continue to grow in the future, especially during the next second semester this year (2021). “There is still momentum for the palm oil price to rise, and the trend is continuing for the Indonesian players to take advantage,” he said.

“The target of palm oil exports until the end of this year is around 30 – 35 million tons,” he said.

Based on data from Gapki, Indonesia’s exports of palm oil products reached 34 million tons in 2020. The total exports consisted of processed palm oil products at 21.10 million tons, CPO at 7.17 million tons, and oleo-chemical at 3.87 million tons.

During the period of January – May 2021,  Indonesia’s palm oil exports reached 13.75 million tons, consisting of processed crude palm oil products at 10.16 million tons, oleo-chemical at 1.66 million tons, and CPO at 1.33 million tons.

The main country destinations of Indonesia’s palm oil exports are India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and others.

So far, there have been 10 foreign countries that have banned entry of Indonesians to their respective countries due to the sharp increase of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia during the last few weeks. Among them are the Philippines, Singapore, the United Arab Emirate, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Oman, European countries with Schengen visa, Japan, Taiwan, and Bahrain. (*)

Source: KONTAN.CO.ID | Featured image via thenewdaily.com.au